Armed Conflict in Thailand (and other celebrations)

March and April were months of celebrations. It seems like we were celebrating some holiday or another from the time we returned from India until now!

Milo's birthday

We got back from India in early March and had just enough time to celebrate Milo's birthday before he left. We celebrated rather sporadically over several days. We did a variety of things such as eating green curry from Mr. Yim's (a little road-side stand that makes the best green curry in the city), watching the X-files movie, and drinking fresh coconut milk. It was all rather random and laid-back: a bit like Milo, oddly enough. :)

Leona's birthday

Eleven days later (after sending Milo back home), we celebrated my birthday—and then kept celebrating it for several weeks!

I didn't plan ahead enough to have anything planned for the actual ides of March (big surprise, I know!), but I still had a great evening hanging out with friends. After church we ate and talked and swam and ate and talked and ate some more. We even tried ordering McDelivery (I know, I'm not much of a fast food person but it's nice occasionally, and besides I'd never been able to order in McDonald's before)!

However, as much fun as the actual day was, I had wanted to do something extreme to commemorate my 30th, so, as previously mentioned, Amanda and I extended the celebration, and headed to the beach the next week, where, during our few days there, we tried parasailing.

It was fun—but it was also just a little bit too...

...safe.

Really! There was no real adrenaline rush. I'm very happy to have tried it, but now I think I really must try skydiving! Or maybe bungee jumping. Or maybe both...

Easter

Once March was over, Easter planning was fully underway. The central holiday of the two months, and undeniably the most important! I have mentioned we're working in children's ministry, right? Well, as part of that we helped with a children's camp on the Friday and Saturday of Easter weekend and then we also helped with the service Sunday morning.

The holiday camp was great fun! It was for kids aged 3-12, and we had 21 kids on Friday and 30 on Saturday. The UK Crosslinks team that I mentioned before did most of the work, so Amanda and I just got to show up and play with the kids—it was fun! As I've told several people here, I miss my nieces, nephews, and cousins from home so it's nice to have a whole church of substitutes—for a little while at least.

Sunday morning was a bit more work for us. The kids sang a song, prepared some memory verses, and helped act out the Easter morning story from Mark. We supervised them and said a few words as well. It made for a busy couple of weeks—but it was good to spend so much time thinking and talking about the Easter story. And it's also wonderful that the message of Easter is both amazing enough to be beyond our human understanding, but still simple enough for a three-year-old to grasp. One of our young holiday camp attendees reminded us all of this simple message by sharing his group's memory verse with the church on Sunday morning: “Jesus is alive!”

Songkran

****NEWS FLASH****

Armed conflict in Thailand!!

...and we took part.

Really!

Okay, so it's not quite what you were thinking— especially if you've been watching world news recently, but this "armed conflict" was what 99% of Thailand was up to on April 12-14th—not protesting in a red shirt as the media would like you to believe!

Songkran is the Thai New Year and it's celebrated with water. It's a nation-wide week-long water fight! Sounds fun, doesn't it? It was! The original meaning of the holiday is about giving thanks and receiving blessings and cleansing and renewal. However, this family/religious ceremony has long since turned into a full-scale water fight for many (most?) Thais. It's about having fun and taking time off and piling into the street with friends and spraying each other with water and smearing each other with paste. And of course we joined right in, did you really think we'd pass up an opportunity like this?! :)

Our Songkran took place a few hours from Bangkok in the area around Ban Chan. A friend of ours, Faye, lives down there, so Amanda and I and Matt and Cathy went down for some R&R. Another friend, Angela, joined us for a day as well (that's her in the first picture). The first day we went out with Angela and walked the streets with our water guns. We even managed to hop on a few pick-ups and ride the strip while attacking those who were passing! The next day we hadn't planned on being involved. We'd actually spent the day at the beach on a nearby island (Koh Samet), but when we returned to the mainland we found the celebration in full-swing! We couldn't have moved our car if we had wanted to as the street had turned into a parking lot of people in pick-ups throwing water at each other! Since we couldn't leave, we joined in! With no water guns all we could do was cheerfully accept the paste and water and wish people "Happy Songkran!"

ANZAC Day

A week after Songkran, we celebrated in April was ANZAC Day. ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Armed Corp) Day is April 25th and commemorates those who lost their lives at Gallipoli (WW1) and in all subsequent battles and wars. Kanchanaburi, two hours from Bangkok, is the site of Hellfire Pass—an area where many Australian's lost their lives working on the Death Railway as Japanese POW's. In the nearby town of Kanchanaburi, is a large Allied War Cemetery. Pete (the vicar at Christ Church) had asked us some time ago if we'd help out by starting the songs at the services he would be leading in Hellfire Pass (a dawn service at 5:30 am) and in Kanchanaburi (at 11:00 am). Unknowingly, we agreed.

Then we found out we would be miked in front of a thousand or so people.

Then we found out we may be televised for national T.V.

Then, on the day of, it turned out that no one really knew the hymn (there was only one) and we were basically soloists!

It was fine, of course ...and really interesting! The dawn service at Hellfire Pass was particularly moving. We walked down from the museum at 4:30 am with just the flickering lights from the bamboo candles lighting our way. The flickering light against the rock faces gave attendees just a bit of an idea of what it might have been like to be forced to work here. At the memorial site, hundreds of people were gathered, sitting or standing quietly waiting for the service to commence. Despite the early hour, the press of the people and the candle flames, made the already warm and humid climate even warmer. Just before the short service started, the birds began to sing—an incongruous sound considering the suffering we had come to remember. The sky slowly lightened as dawn approached and as it lightened we remembered the One who came to give light to all the world. We committed the memories of those who died to Him and asked that he would guide us and lead us and use us to bring peace to a world still plagued by events similar to those we came to remember.

South African National Day

Finally, on April 27th, we got invited to the South African National Day celebration! This is the event the South African embassy puts on for the other dignitaries in Bangkok. (Dress attire: lounge suit or national costume...man, if we keep attending these events, I'm really going to need to scale up my backpacking wardrobe!) There were a short couple of speeches, some great entertainers, and delicious South African food (and wine)! We didn't see the Canadian ambassador there (we have met him though)—we were hoping to see him 'cause if the Canadians do something similar for Canada Day, we're hoping for invites. :) I tell you though—we've gone from hanging with backpackers to hobnobbing with ambassadors in just a few months—not bad!

Well, we are currently into planning for summer kids programs and we're also finalizing details for our trip to Russia in June. Until next time....

Incredible India!

I really feel like I'm continually playing catch-up with this blog, which I suppose I am! :) I can't believe how fast time passes—it seems quite insane that we were in India over a month ago. Crazy!

It was a good trip though—but too short. I must admit that we didn't necessarily utilize the time as best we could. We flew into Kolkata and immediately jumped on a train for Delhi. We spent about a day and a half on that train. We stayed in Delhi one night and day—just long enough to drop off our passports at the Thailand embassy. Then we jumped on another train and headed to Rajamundry; that train ride was almost two days. We stayed just out of Rajamundry, with Pastor K's family, for just under four days. Then we caught a train to Agra—another two days! Due to not booking soon enough, we ended up hiring a car for the four hour trip back to Delhi...where we spent another four days and then we hopped back on another train for a day and a half trip back to Kolkata where we caught our flight back to Thailand. Now, Amanda and I happen to really enjoy train travel in India—but even we were getting a bit sick of it by the time we left!

I think the highlight of the trip for Amanda and I was seeing Pastor K, Ruth and the ALC Home kids again! The kids remembered us and were excited to meet Milo. (He ended up with "delhi belly" when we first arrived, so he wasn't out and about much. Pastor K said the kids were all asking about him because they wanted to see what a young man from Canada looked like. We're a bit scared that they're judging all of Canada on Milo, but what can we do! ) We were also able to meet with Dennis Hilman and John Ruotsala at Pastor K's and spend some time with them. I really wish we could have stayed longer there in Rajamundry...but there's always next time, I suppose.

I can't believe how big the kids have gotten—but I suppose that happens after three years. They were as much fun as ever though. Whether it was singing, playing games in the yard, or walking through the village, they were always full of joy! Like our last trip, we took some of them to the river to go swimming. And when I say swimming I mean crawling and splashing around in water about a foot deep. :) John took up the challenge to race some of the kids—and immediately sprained his leg. Dennis spent his time in a chair under a little bamboo roof—and was mistaken for the ferry ticket man! Amazing, isn't it, that a Finn can be mistaken for an Indian! The rest of us (except Pastor K) went “swimming,” had races, built sand castles, searched for crabs, and generally acted like the kids we are. :)

Let me say this, though, those kids know how to put the dramatic into drama! On Sunday evening—our last evening there—they put on some skits for us. The girls acted out the wise and foolish virgins, and the boys acted out the fiery furnace—complete with an actual fiery “furnace.” It was absolutely brilliant! There's a small video clip which doesn't do it justice, but still gives you a bit of a flavour of the show. Intermissions were filled with song and dance routines which were equally as well presented. Ruth even managed to get Amanda and I—very much against our wills—to get up and perform the Indian dance the kids had tried teaching us the night before.

Sunday (during the day) and Monday (before we went back to Delhi that evening) were spent at various churches for services or prayer. Sunday was special because we visited two congregations that Mom, Amanda, and I visited three years ago—one of them being the church that Mom helped dedicate. The churches we visited on Monday were mostly ones Amanda visited last time, so she really enjoyed revisiting them. (She saw more since she came over a month before Mom and I.) I wish we' have had more time to visit during this trip—it would have been nice to spend more time there with the people in the small villages.

After leaving Pastor K's, we took a quick stop in Agra—the home of the Taj Mahal. It really is a beautiful building. While in Agra, we also visited the Agra Fort—also well worth the visit. Check out facebook for more pictures. The Taj Mahal, of course, is a tomb. It was built by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahalf, after she died giving birth tho their fourteenth child. Sadly (or ironically), their oldest son, Shah Jahan, usurped the throne shortly after his father finished the Taj and imprisoned him in the Agra Fort until his death several years later. The son was nice enough to give his father rooms with a view of the Taj though.... thoughtful of him, isn't it?

We spent the rest of our time in Delhi—hanging out, shopping, eating, and drinking chai (lots of chai)! We had to stay to get our Thai visas sorted—and after that we were too lazy to go anywhere for the last few days. :) The picture shows Milo with the guy who worked at the restaurant that we frequented the most often.

Stay tuned for our next set of adventures back in Thailand!

Working in Bangkok

Well, I think I mentioned that Amanda and I were volunteering with Christ Church Bangkok, right? Well...we're still doing that--but for a bit longer than originally planned. We've agreed to stay on here until October! (I know--that's a long commitment for us!) However, within that time we still have time to take off for a few weeks or a month and travel to places like Russia, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, and India. :) (The picture's from the Grand Palace in Bangkok...)

We are officially helping with children's ministry--quite a bit on the admin side of things, but also directly with the kids. At the beginning of March, for example, we took 12 kids on a two-day barge trip. It was fantastic! We both love the water anyways, so hanging out on the river for two days was great. The kids had fun too. We had a program for them focussed around the verse: We tried to explain the concept of living water through the example of physical water. The barge team lead by Linda (the friend we stayed with in Chiang Mai) did the environmental demonstrations and the Christ Church team did the spiritual connections. Amanda and I (and Milo--he was still here) mostly just supervised. And, yes, when I mean supervise I mean we did some work... :) We were able to go along as only supervisors because there's a team of ten young people from the UK working with Christ Church right now too. They've been a huge help with all sorts of things--including the barge trip.

Besides special trips like the barge trip (shown in the picture), we do help out on Sundays with Sunday School classes if need be. We do a lot of pre-Sunday prep for the lessons and activities and we are going to start creating/sourcing new curriculum after Easter. I also put together a kid's newsletter, Amanda did a powerpoint for the church about the barge trip, we co-ordinate schedules, etc. Generally we keep busy! :)

We've also been trying to visit the Pakkred orphanage once a week. The church has a weekly visit there to help out with the kids who have cerebral palsy (well, most of them do anyways--some of them have Downs Syndrome I think). It's a very unfortunate truth that many kids with disabilities get abandoned here. The orphanage is government-run, though, so they are trying to be part of the solution. Pakkred is always fun--we just go for a few hours each week, to play with the kids, take them out for walks in the strollers (most can't walk), feed them lunch (including chocolate cake!), and then go.

We have also rented a small apartment here (apartment being just an appropriate word...). It's really just one room and a bathroom, but it works for us and it's cheap! It fits two beds, a closet, a desk, and a fridge--what more do we need! :) It's also in a building where there are mostly Thai people living--not "farangs" (foreigners). We really like that 'cause we like being part of the local community. The picture shows a bit of the apartment--and another favourite part of living in Thailand--all the fresh fruit!

It's quite fun actually, 'cause a lot of the other foreigners we've met (many of them also work at the church) live quite close to us. Within a few blocks of where we live there are at least five other people/couples living. The great thing being that a lot of their apartment buildings have pools that we can use--which is brilliant as we're now entering the hot season. (The picture was right before Milo left and it's at Matt and Kathy's place--they are an Australian couple here with CMS (Christian Mission Society).

The neighbourhood around the building is one of our favourite parts of living there. There are lots of street food stalls (Milo's favourite was the banana pancake guy) around; there's a small local fruit and vegetable market across the road, there are three small restaurants in our price range (one which sells only pad thai!); there's several coffee places (very important!) of various prices--the cheapest of which is always in our price range! :) It's just a really great place--busy without being too loud or raucous. I'll miss it when we leave!!

Since we are now going to be here for awhile, we are also trying to learn some of the language. It's a tonal language, which makes things a bit more difficult. That means you can say one word and it can mean four different things depending if you raise your voice, or lower it, or keep it flat, etc. It is hard to hear and duplicate! However, we can now shop sort of and ask simple questions in Thai. Very exciting! We can't, however, read or write any of the language--that's really difficult since it's not in the Latin script. Thai is especially helpful when we're in restaurants. The english translation for this dish was snakehead--so naturally we ordered it...only to find out it was only eel... *sigh

Okay, enough about Bangkok, I think. We agreed to stay on starting in January (so this is a January post even though it's April ), but at the beginning of Febraury we headed to India. Next post about that trip coming soon... :)

From frustrations to fun

First, a time update: I know it is currently the middle of March (a time I always remember fondly), but the post is about the middle of January when Milo, Amanda, and I went to the Philippines. I will try to get several posts done in short order so that everyone can be updated on what we are doing...I'll try—say a prayer for me, won't you! :)

We were going to the Philippines in mid-January to join an ALC mission trip. It seemed easy. We would leave Bangkok at midnight and arrive in Manila at 5:30 am, transfer to our connecting flight leaving for Cagayan de Oro at 7:00 am, and be met at the airport upon arrival at 9:00 am Wednesday. Easy!

The best laid plans...

At first things ran smoothly. We arrived in Manila on time but then things started to fall apart. At 7:00 we were informed our connecting flight was canceled due to weather. We waited for the 9:00 am flight...but it was canceled too. So were the 12:00, 1:00, and 4:00 o'clock flights! By that time all the flights for the next day were full, and we were tired, hungry, and really sick of the Manila airport! So...we booked for Friday morning at 7:00 am and decided to spend Thursday in town.

Manila was nice (the sunset above is of Manila Bay). We enjoyed walking around town and getting a flavour of the place. We walked through the park and through the old walled city of Intermuros. We spent some time in Fort Santiago and learned quite a bit about Dr. Jose Rizal: the national hero. Rizal (that's him on the monument to the right) spoke up for a free Philippines and it's widely believed that it was his martyred death that was the catalyst for the Philippine revolution.

The other interesting thing I noticed in Manila was how much Christianity had permeated the culture. Buses and taxis are named after saints; churches of all shapes and sizes abound throughout the city; and most of the people wear crosses or crucifixes. That's not to say, of course, that everyone is a Christian, but it is very interesting to see how the religion has become the culture.

The next day we were back at the airport, though, only to sit there all morning while another three flights were canceled. Finally we gave up and decided to fly to the south of the island where we were going and then catch a bus north to Cagayan. It worked fine—but it made for a long day! We had woken up at 4:30 to get to the airport for our 7:00 am flight, finally flew out at 1:00 pm, arrived in Davao at 2:00 pm, took a taxi to the bus station, got a non-AC bus leaving at about 3:30 pm, and arrived in Cagayan de Oro just before midnight—a mere two days after our scheduled arrival! The picture shows some of the lovely people we met on the bus ride up to Cagayan.

Pastor Bert and his son, Adones, very kindly met us at the bus station at midnight and delivered us to the hotel. The next morning we met the rest of the American team: Colin, Bruce, Scott, Fratt, Randi, Al & Kathy, as well as the rest of the Sedones family. It was nice to finally be there! Saturday was the last day of Pastor training in Cagayan and we enjoyed attending and participating in these last sessions. (Pastor Bert is in the picture to the right with Milo and Amanda.)

The weather was still crazy! The rain was torrential for much of the day. This not only turned the rural roads and paths into mud holes, but was also loud enough on the tin roof to compete with the speaking at times. The church building is located on top of a steep hill and the only way up is a footpath (of 164 steps)....I'll let you imagine the state it was in after six days of rain! (The picture is actually from Sunday after the rain had stopped; but even then the roads were in quite a state, as can be seen.) Despite the weather problems, the seminars seemed to go quite well. There were several hundred pastors and church leaders attending. It was nice to be able to communicate easily with most of the attendees since English is widely spoken in the Philippines.

Late Saturday afternoon, just before the end of the seminars, everyone was split into 10 groups (one foreigner per group) and we prepared a song or a skit for the rest of the attendees. The performances were nice, but what we really liked was the chance to talk one-on-one with our Filipino brothers and sisters.

The next day was Sunday and we were back at the same church for services. On Sunday, Amanda and I helped out by doing some songs, a small talk, and some games with the kids. It was fun! One change from our regular program was the “Christingle” style of the story we acted out (Daniel and the Lion's Den). We had half a dozen princes, half a dozen angels, a king, and lots of lions! The kids enjoyed it, but probably not as much as we did. After some songs we also made frogs. Yeah! :) That was also quite a hit, as it generally is. The day ended with food and snacks for the kids and then lots and lots of pictures! “Just one more!” the kids would chant. So we'd take one more and then the kids would race over to see themselves on our viewfinder. And then “Just one more!” they'd chant again. There are several hundred “just one more” pictures on our cameras!

On Monday we jumped into vans for a six hour drive east to the area where Pastor Bert grew up. There we had more services and then visited seven or so of the local churches. Amanda and I worked with the kids at several of the churches, including during the “Battle of the bands” which took place after the services on Tuesday. It left us both hoarse (we were competing with the bands and had no mikes), but it was good fun. Kids really are a lot of fun, no matter what the culture!

The van ride from Cagayan and back was fun too. We learned some songs in Visian (the local dialect/language), got to know the littlest Sedones kids a bit better, slept, talked, and had a good time (despite being squished in like sardines). The scenery was breathtaking—especially when the road was winding along the coast. And I know this will come as a surprise to those who know me, but I definitely want to visit the Philippines again...and next time I'd love to visit for longer than only 10 days!

"F" words

Dangerous duo to terrible trio to...(freaky? foreign? fearsome? furry? flammable?) four.

(What's a good adjective that starts with F?)

On January first, Tracey L'Esperance arrived in Bangkok just in time for us to head south to the islands. Well, only one island actually: Koh Chang. It was fabulous (fabulous four?): sun, surf, sand...what more could you ask for?! It fit well with Milo's tropical version of White Christmas (think white sandy beach instead of white snow), if you haven't heard it you can ask him about it next time you see him.

One day we went snorkelling—lots of fun (fun four? funny four?). It was an all-day boat trip with snorkelling, swimming, and vast amounts of food. The scenery was gorgeous, the company was friendly (friendly four?), and the water was nice and clear—great for snorkelling. It was my first time snorkelling and Ijust think I might have to go again... :)

The next day we thought we'd try kayaking. There were a few small islands not far from shore, so we paddled out to the closest one. It had a nice little beach on one end and some decent rocky inlets on the other. We picnicked on the beach and paddled into the inlets, frantically (frantic four?) trying to avoid hitting the rock cliffs. :) It was more strenuous to kayak through the sea for several hours than I thought it would be—by the time we were done, I was done!

After four days or so, we decided to head north for a change of scenery. So...we caught a taxi and a ferry and a bus and a skytrain back to Bangkok, and a skytrain and a city bus and a long-distance bus and a songthaw (shared pick-up taxi) and a van up to our house north of Chiang Mai. Actually we stopped in Bangkok for a day or so, but I liked the sentence better strung all together! The main tourist stop in Bangkok as Wat Pho (the temple housing the famous Reclining Buddha). (Famous four? Hmmm, I kinda like that...) It's basically impossible to show big the buddha statue is using a picture, so I'm not even going to try here...check facebook for other pics!

After our stopover in Bangkok, we did head north via the transport noted above. We stayed with a friend for our first few days in the north. (Thanks again Lynda!) She actually lives out of town on the Prem school campus. It was beautiful. And there were bunnies. This made Tracey happy since she'd been comparing everything else to bunnies for the last week (the fish, the cat, Milo, the sand at the beach...). (Fishy four?)

Luckily, we arrived in Chiang Mai just in time for the Winter Carnival (an annual fair—a local one, not one set up for tourists). We went with Lynda and had a fabulous time! I think we sampled almost every possible food there. It was great! We had khao saw (a curried noodle soup—a northern specialty), pad thai, sticky rice in bamboo, fried grasshoppers, quail eggs, hairy sweet noodle stuff, deep-fried squid, meringue-filled wafer-thingys, dried squid, sausages, banana pancakes...basically we just spent all evening eating! It was festive, fun, fattening...and filling (festive four?) (fattening four?...maybe not!).

Elephants! The elephants were fantastic (fantastic four?)! And they reminded Tracey of bunnies. I was pleasantly surprised by the elephant camp. I thought the elephant show would be a bit cheesy, but it was actually quite good. The baby elephants were adorable...and all the elephants were very talented. They played football/ soccer, danced, gave massages, and painted! It was fun to see. They accepted all tips offered by the tourists too. The money was handed back to their riders, and the bananas and sugar cane was quite happily eaten.

By mid-January it was time for Milo, Amanda, and I to head to the Philippines and time for Tracey to head home to her bunnies. So...that's it for the adventures of the (flighty?) four! Well, actually that's all the adventures I'm planning to write about at the moment, not all the adventures we had...you can find out more via the pictures on Facebook...or by cornering one of us at some point in the future (futuristic four?). (And you might want to get us all together or you may just end up with four different versions of each story...)

Between Christmas and New Year's

So...once again I've fallen behind, so here's another picture blog to catch up on what's we've been doing since Christmas! (actually this is just from Christmas to New Years...)

Bangkok river taxis run every 15 minutes on weekdays. It's a good thing they don't only run in the morning 'cause Milo doesn't wake up until afternoon! (Or maybe he was just trying to get close to the money.) Hmm...

Mmmm...coconut milk is lovely after a wander through the temples of Bangkok.

We headed out of town to Kanchanaburi for a few days at the end of December. We stayed in a raft house hostel. It was cute and quiet and served great food! It also offered rather brilliant views of the sunset over the River Kwai.

During WWII, the Japanese used prisoners of war and local labour to build a railway through to Burma as a secure supply route. So many of the POW's and labours died because of harsh treatment by the Japanese, that it became known as the Death Railway.

This part of WWII history was made famous, of course, by the book and movie Bridge Over the River Kwai. We visited the bridge (not the one made famous by the movie—that one was destroyed by the allies only a few months after being built). It was rebuilt in the same place as the old one and, as you can see, is still used today.

Other sections of the railroad are still original though...

This was a particularly brutal section for the labourers to build as they had to cut straight through soil and solid rock with minimal equipment. It was nicknamed Hellfire Pass by the POWs because of how it looked at night by torchlight. The work teams were required to work 12-18 hour shifts in orer to finish it in 12 weeks! By the time it was finished, 70% of the POW crew (and probably equal or greater numbers of local conscripts) had died.

Bamboo rafting on the River Kwai!

If being a soil scientist doesn't work out, Amanda can always consider a career as an elephant trainer.

Okay, that's all for 2008--the first 2009 post will be arriving soon! :)